Us Weekly’s new editor, Janice Min, yesterday raided New York magazine for one of its star gossip writers.

Marc Malkin, who had been co-editing the widely read “Intelligencer” section of New York magazine with Deborah Shoeneman, is jumping back to Us Weekly – this time as an editor.

Malkin had spent a year at Us Weekly, but back in June 2001 fled the magazine for a slightly saner life and a low-six-figure salary at New York.

Now he’s returning to Us Weekly as the replacement for Michael Lewittes, the former Us Weekly news director, who is going to follow Fuller to her new home as tabloid princess and editorial director at American Media.

“I got some more pocket change,” said Malkin.

In addition to overseeing the “Hot Stuff” gossip column, he’ll be supervising four to five reporters in New York and looking to add one to two more.

Min also boosted L.A. Bureau Chief Ken Baker to West Coast executive editor to thwart another Fuller raid on the staff.

Lewittes must cool his heels at an American Media automotive title, and will only plunge into Star work when a non-compete clause expires.

Us Weekly showed a 24.8 percent increase in single-copy sales for the first half of the year, selling an average 506,392 on newsstands each week, according to official Audit Bureau of Circulations numbers released yesterday. Its total paid circulation jumped 8 percent, to 1,150,702.

People held steady with 3,628,982 total circulation. Newsstand sales rose just under 1 percent.